Non-Volatile Semiconductor Memory with Page Erase

ABSTRACT

In a nonvolatile memory, less than a full block maybe erased as one or more pages. A select voltage is applied through pass transistors to each of plural selected wordlines and an unselect voltage is applied through pass transistor to each of plural unselected wordlines of a selected block. A substrate voltage is applied to the substrate of the selected block. A common select voltage may be applied to each selected wordline and the common unselect voltage may be applied to each unselected wordline. Select and unselect voltages may be applied to any of the wordlines of a select block. A page erase verify operation may be applied to a block having plural erased pages and plural nonerased pages.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No.12/888,034, filed Sep. 22, 2010, now allowed, which is a continuation ofU.S. Application Ser. No. 12/474,056, filed May 28, 2009, issued as U.S.Pat. No. 7,872,921 on Jan. 18, 2011, which is a divisional of U.S.application Ser. No. 11/715,838, filed Mar. 8, 2007, issued as U.S. Pat.No. 7,551,492 on Jun. 23, 2009, which claims the benefit of U.S.Provisional Application No. 60/786,897, filed on Mar. 29, 2006 and U.S.Provisional Application No. 60/843,593, filed on Sep. 11, 2006.

The entire teachings of the above applications are incorporated hereinby reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Mobile electronic devices, such as digital cameras, portable digitalassistants, portable audio/video players and mobile terminals continueto require mass storage memory, preferably non-volatile memory with everincreasing capacities and speed capabilities. For example, presentlyavailable audio players can have between 256 Mbytes to 40 Gigabytes ofmemory for storing audio/video data. Non-volatile memory such as Flashmemory and hard-disk drives are preferred since data is retained in theabsence of power.

Presently, hard disk drives having high densities can store 40 to 500Gigabytes of data, but are relatively bulky. However, Flash memory, alsoknown as solid-state drive, is popular because of their high density,non-volatility, and small size relative to hard disk drives. Flashmemory technology is based on EPROM and EEPROM technologies. The term“flash” was chosen because a large number of memory cells could beerased at one time as distinguished from EEPROMs, where each byte waserased individually. Those of skill in the art will understand thatFlash memory can be configured as NOR, NAND or other Flash, with NANDFlash having higher density per given area due to its more compactmemory array structure. For the purpose of further discussion,references to Flash memory should be understood as being any type Flashmemory.

The cell array structure of NAND flash memory consists of n erasableblocks. Each block is subdivided into m programmable pages illustratesthe cell array structure of an example NAND flash memory which consistsof n erasable blocks. In this example, n=2048. Each block is subdividedinto m programmable pages as shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, where m=64.

Each page consists of (j+k) bytes (x8b) as shown in FIG. 3. In thisexample, j=2048 and k=64. The pages are further divided into a j-bytedata storage region (data field) with a separate k-byte area (sparefield). The k-byte area is typically used for error managementfunctions.

1 page=(j+k) bytes.

1 block=m pages=(j+K) bytes*m.

Total memory array size=n blocks=(j+K) bytes*m*n.

In conventional NAND flash devices, read and program operations areexecuted on a page basis while erase operations are executed on a blockbasis. All operations are driven by commands (refer to Samsung's 2 GbNAND Flash Specification: ds_k9f2gxxu0m_rev10 incorporated herein in itsentirety).

The internal memory array is accessed on a page basis. The readoperation starts after writing READ command followed by addresses viacommon I/O pins (I/O0 to I/O 7) to the device. The 2,112 bytes of datawithin the selected page are sensed and transferred to the page registerin less than tR (data transfer time from flash array to page register)shown in FIG. 4. Once the 2,112 bytes of data are sensed and transferredfrom the selected page in the cell array to the data register, the datain the data register can be sequentially read from the device at, forexample, 8 bits or 16 bits per cycle.

The conventional memory array is programmed on a page basis. For programoperations, PROGRAM command followed by addresses and input data of2,112 bytes is issued to the device through common I/O pins (I/O0 toI/O7). The 2,112 bytes of data are transferred to the data registerduring input data loading cycles and finally programmed to the selectedpage of the cell array less than tPROG (page program time) as shown inFIG. 5.

The memory array is erased on a block basis. For block erase operations,BLOCK ERASE command followed by block addresses is issued to the devicethrough common I/O pins (I/O0 to I/O7). The 128K bytes of data areerased less than tBERS (block erase time) as shown in FIG. 6. Refer toNAND Flash specifications (Samsung's 2 Gb NAND: ds_k9f2gxxu0m_rev10) fordetailed device operations.

A NAND cell string typically consists of one string selector transistor71, i memory cells 72 and one ground select transistor 73 which areserially connected as shown FIG. 7. The number (i) of cells per stringcan be varied by process technology, for example 8 cells per string or16 cells per string or 32 cells per string. 32 memory cells per stringare common in present 90 nm and 70 nm technologies. Hereinafter, ‘32’ isused for i as shown in FIG. 7.

Memory cell gates correspond to wordline 0 to 31 (W/L0 to W/L 31). Thegate of string select transistor is connected to a string select line(SSL) while the drain of string select transistor is connected tobitline (B/L). The gate of ground select transistor is connected to aground select line (GSL) while the source of ground select transistor isconnected to common source line (CSL). Each wordline corresponds to apage and each string corresponds to a block.

FIGS. 8 and 9 depict physical structure of a block with 32 cells perNAND cell string. As shown in FIG. 8, there are (j+k)*8 NAND strings ina block. Thus the unit block has total (j+k)*8*32 cells. Each wordlineis defined as unit page. FIG. 9 shows n blocks

Typically, flash memory cells are programmed and erased by eitherFowler-Nordheim (F-N) tunneling or hot electron injection. In NAND flashmemory, both erase and program are governed by F-N tunneling. Thefollowing erase and program operations are based on NAND flash memory.

During an erase operation, the top poly (i.e. top gate) of the cell isbiased to Vss (ground) while the substrate of the cell is biased toerase voltage Vers (eg. approximately 20v, source and drain areautomatically biased to Vers due to junction-forward-bias fromP-substrate to n+ source/drain). By this erase bias condition, trappedelectrons (charge) in the floating poly (i.e. floating gate) are emittedto the substrate through the tunnel oxide as shown in FIG. 10A. The cellVth of the erased cell is negative value as shown in FIG. 10B. In otherwords, the erased cell is on-transistor (normally turn-on with gate biasVg of 0V).

During a program operation, on the contrary, the top poly (i.e. topgate) of the cell is biased to program voltage Vpgm (eg. approximately18v) while the substrate, source and drain of the cell are biased to Vss(ground). By this program bias condition, electrons (charge) in thesubstrate are injected to the floating poly (i.e. floating gate) throughthe tunnel oxide as shown in FIG. 11A. The cell Vth of the programmedcell is positive value as shown in FIG. 11B. In other words, theprogrammed cell is off-transistor (normally turn-off with gate bias Vgof 0V).

Therefore NAND flash is erased and programmed by a bi-directional (i.e.symmetrical) F-N tunneling mechanism.

One known erase scheme is illustrated in FIGS. 12 and 13. FIG. 12 showsbias condition during erase operations. The p-well substrate is biasedto erase voltage Vers while bitlines and the common source line (CSL) inthe selected block are clamped to Vers-0.6v through the S/D diodes ofthe SSL and GSL transistors. At the same time all wordlines in theselected block are biased to 0V while the string select line (SSL) andthe ground select line (GSL) are biased to erase voltage Vers. Thereforeentire cells in the selected block are erased by F-N tunneling asdescribed above.

Because of block basis erase operations, erasure of memory cells inunselected blocks having the same p-well substrate must be prevented(i.e. erase inhibit). FIG. 13 shows an erase inhibit scheme tounselected blocks:

All wordlines in the selected block are biased to 0V.

All wordlines in unselected blocks are biased to Vers to compensateelectrical field by Vers from the substrate.

Table 1 shows bias conditions for the selected block and unselectedblocks with the prior art 1 during erase operations.

TABLE 1 Bias Conditions during Erase - Prior Art 1 SELECTED BLOCKUNSELECTED BLOCK BITLINES (B/L) CLAMPED TO CLAMPED TO VERS- VERS-0.6 V0.6 V STRING SELECT VERS VERS LINE (SSL) WORDLINES 0 V VERS (W/L0~W/L31)GROUND SELECT VERS VERS LINE (GSL) COMMON SOURCE CLAMPED TO CLAMPED TOVERS- LINE (CSL) VERS-0.6 V 0.6 V SUBSTRATE VERS VERS (POCKET P-WELL)

With this erase inhibit scheme, it takes a very long total erase time tocharge all wordlines in unselected blocks to erase voltage Vers. At thesame time, the power consumption is very high due to charging anddischarging entire wordlines in unselected blocks. Moreover, as thememory density increases, the erase time becomes much longer and thepower consumption during erase operations is much higher.

In order to resolve problems in the above approach, the self-boostingerase inhibit scheme (U.S. Pat. No. 5,473,563) has been proposed and itis widely used in NAND flash memories.

For the selected block, the erase bias conditions are substantially thesame as above except the SSL and GSL are floating instead of biased toVers, as shown in FIG. 14.

To prevent erasure of memory cells in unselected blocks, all wordlinesin unselected blocks are floated during erase operations as shown inFIG. 15. Therefore floated wordlines in unselected blocks are boosted tonearly erase voltage Vers by capacitive coupling between the substrateand wordlines in unselected blocks as applying erase voltage Vers to thesubstrate. (Floated wordlines are boosted to about 90% of Vers when thesubstrate of the cell array goes to Vers; however, boosted voltage levelon floated wordlines is determined by coupling ratio between thesubstrate and wordlines.) The boosted voltage on wordlines in unselectedblocks reduces electric field between the substrate and wordlines; as aresult, erasure of memory cells in unselected blocks is prevented.

All wordlines in the selected block are biased to 0V.

All wordlines in unselected blocks are floating.

Table 2 shows bias conditions during erase with this approach. There isno need to apply erase voltage Vers to wordlines in unselected blocks,which reduces power consumption during erase and reduces the erase time,because entire wordlines in unselected blocks are not needed to bebiased to Vers.

TABLE 2 Bias Conditions during Erase - Prior Art 2 SELECTED BLOCKUNSELECTED BLOCK BITLINES (B/L) CLAMPED TO CLAMPED TO VERS- VERS-0.6 V0.6 V STRING SELECT BOOSTED TO BOOSTED TO APPROX. LINE (SSL) APPROX. 90%90% OF VERS OF VERS WORDLINES 0 V BOOSTED TO APPROX. (W/L0~W/L31) 90% OFVERS GROUND SELECT BOOSTED TO BOOSTED TO APPROX. LINE (GSL) APPROX. 90%90% OF VERS OF VERS COMMON SOURCE CLAMPED TO CLAMPED TO VERS- LINE (CSL)VERS-0.6 V 0.6 V SUBSTRATE VERS VERS (POCKET P-WELL)

Because the substrate of cells is biased to erase voltage Vers andsource/drain/substrate of cells in the selected block are electricallyconnected, the erase operation must occur on a block basis. In otherwords, the minimum erasable array size is a block.

The above described Flash memories suffer from three limitations. First,bits can be programmed only after erasing a target memory array. Second,each cell can only sustain a limited number of erasures, after which itcan no longer reliably store data. In other words, there is a limitationin the number of erase and program cycles to cells (i.e. Endurance,typically 10,000˜100,000 cycles). Third, the minimum erasable array sizeis much bigger than the minimum programmable array size. Due to theselimitations, sophisticated data structures and algorithms are requiredto effectively use flash memories. (See for example, U.S. Pat. Nos.5,937,425, 6,732,221 and 6,594,183.

Erase of memory cells on a page basis has been suggested in U.S. Pat.No. 5,995,417 and in patent application US 2006/0050594.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Provided here are technical details in new page basis erase approachesin nonvolatile memory, with particular application NAND flash memory.The page basis erase approach is described using NAND flash memory, butmay be applied more generally by one skilled in the art to other flashmemory devices.

A nonvolatile memory array, such as a NAND Flash Memory, has pluralstrings of memory cells on a substrate, wordlines across the strings topages of memory cells and a pass transistor applying a voltage to eachwordline. In a method of erasing a page, each pass transistor of aselected block is enabled, for example through a block decoder. Awordline decoder may cause a select voltage to be applied to the passtransistor at each of plural selected wordlines of the selected blockand an unselect voltage to be applied to the pass transistor at each ofplural unselected wordlines of the selected block. A substrate voltageis applied to the substrate of the selected block. The voltagedifference between the substrate voltage and a resulting voltage of eachselected wordline causes the page of memory cells of the selectedwordline to erase, and the voltage difference between the substratevoltage and the resulting voltage of each unselected wordline is lessthan that which erases the page of memory cells of the unselectedwordline.

In certain embodiments, a common select voltage is applied at eachselected wordline and a common unselect voltage is applied at eachunselected wordline. Select voltages and unselect voltages may beapplied to any of the wordlines of a selected block.

With the application of select and unselect voltages to any of thewordlines of a selected block, selected wordlines may be separated by atleast one unselected wordline and unselected wordlines may be separatedby at least one selected wordline. With selected lines adjacent tounselected lines, where boosting of a wordline is relied upon, thecapacitive coupling that results in that boosting can be reduced. As aresult, a higher initial voltage applied from the unselect voltage ispreferred. To assure that unselected memory cells adjacent to twoselected memory cells are not erased, it is preferred that the unselectvoltage be closer to the applied substrate voltage than to the selectvoltage.

In one embodiment, the resulting voltage of each selected wordline issubstantially the same as the select voltage and the resulting voltageof each unselected wordline is a floating voltage pulled from theunselect voltage toward the substrate voltage. A common gate signalapplied to each pass transistor of the selected block has a value V2,the unselect voltage is great than V2 and the unselected wordlineprecharges to V2−Vtn. V2 is substantially less than the appliedsubstrate voltage but is preferably at least 50% of the appliedsubstrate voltage. As such, the unselect voltage in a selected block isgreater than the voltage typically applied to the pass transistors in anunselected block.

In other embodiments, the resultant voltage of each selected wordline issubstantially the same as the select voltage and the resulting voltageof each unselected wordline is substantially the same as the unselectvoltage. For example, the select voltage may be about 0V and theunselect voltage may be about equal to the applied substrate voltage.

In an erase verify operation, a select verify voltage may be applied toeach wordline of plural erased pages in the selected block and anunselect verify voltage may be applied to each wordline of pluralnonerased pages in the selected block. The state of strings of theselected block is then sensed. Each string is connected to an endvoltage, specifically a source voltage. The level of the end voltage maybe selected from one of plural voltage levels dependent on the number ofselected wordlines.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The foregoing will be apparent from the following more particulardescription of example embodiments of the invention, as illustrated inthe accompanying drawings in which like reference characters refer tothe same parts throughout the different views.

The drawings are not necessarily to scale, emphasis instead being placedupon illustrating embodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 1. NAND Flash Cell Array Structure.

FIG. 2. NAND Flash Block Structure.

FIG. 3. NAND Flash Page Structure.

FIG. 4. Page Basis Read Operation in NAND Flash.

FIG. 5. Page Basis Program Operation in NAND Flash.

FIG. 6. Block Basis Erase Operation in NAND Flash.

FIG. 7. NAND Cell String with 32 cells.

FIG. 8. Block and Page Definition in NAND Flash.

FIG. 9. Multiple Block in NAND Flash.

FIG. 10A. Erase Operation by Fowler-Nordheim (F-N) Tunneling.

FIG. 10B. Erase Operation by Fowler-Nordheim (F-N) Tunneling.

FIG. 11A. Program Operation by Fowler-Nordheim (F-N) Tunneling.

FIG. 11B. Program Operation by Fowler-Nordheim (F-N) Tunneling.

FIG. 12. Bias Conditions to Selected Block during Erase—Prior Art1.

FIG. 13. Block Erase and Static Erase Inhibit Scheme—Prior Art 1.

FIG. 14. Bias Conditions to Selected Block during Erase—Prior Art 2.

FIG. 15. Block Erase and Self-boosting Erase Inhibit Scheme—Prior Art 2.

FIG. 16. Block Copy Process to Modify a Page or a Portion of the Page.

FIG. 17. Bias Conditions to Selected Block during Erase—Page Erase.Scheme 1

FIG. 18. Page Erase and Erase Inhibit—Page Erase Scheme 1.

FIG. 19. Page Erase Bias Conditions—Page Erase Scheme 2A.

FIG. 20. Page Erase and Erase Inhibit—Page Erase Scheme 2A.

FIG. 21. Page Erase Bias Conditions—Page Erase Scheme 2B.

FIG. 22. Page Erase and Erase Inhibit—Page Erase Scheme 2B.

FIG. 23. Multiple Pages Erase—Page Erase Scheme 1.

FIG. 24. Multiple Pages Erase—Page Erase Scheme 2A.

FIG. 25. Multiple Pages Erase—Page Erase Scheme 2B.

FIG. 26. Block Erase—Page Erase Scheme 2A.

FIG. 27. Block Erase—Page Erase Scheme 2B.

FIG. 28. Page Erase Verify without Source Bias.

FIG. 29. Page Erase Verify with Source Bias.

FIG. 30. Block Erase Verify.

FIG. 31. Page Erase Flow—Single Erase & Erase Verify Cycle.

FIG. 32. Page Erase Flow—Multiple Erase & Erase Verify Cycle.

FIG. 33. Simplified Block Diagram of NAND Flash Core.

FIG. 34. Block Decoder Schematic for Page Erase Scheme 1.

FIG. 35. Block Decoder Schematic for Page Erase Scheme 2A and 2B.

FIG. 36. Page Buffer and Column Selector—Example.

FIG. 37. Page Erase/Multiple Page Erase Timing—Page Erase Scheme 1.

FIG. 38. Page Erase/Multiple Page Erase Timing—Page Erase Scheme 2A.

FIG. 39. Page Erase/Multiple Page Erase Timing—Page Erase Scheme 2B.

FIG. 40. Block Erase Timing—Page Erase Scheme 2A.

FIG. 41. Block Erase Timing—Page Erase Scheme 2B.

FIG. 42. Page Erase Verify Timing for Page Erase Scheme 1 with SourceBias.

FIG. 43. Block Erase Verify Timing for Page Erase Scheme 1.

FIG. 44. Page Erase Verify Timing for Page Erase Scheme 2A and 2B.

FIG. 45. Block Erase Verify Timing for Page Erase Scheme 2A and 2B.

FIG. 46. Bias Conditions to Selected Block during Erase—Page EraseScheme 3.

FIG. 47. Bias Conditions to Selected Block during Erase—Page EraseScheme 3.

FIG. 48. Page Erase and Erase Inhibit—Page Erase Scheme 3.

FIG. 49. Multiple Page Erase and Erase Inhibit—Page Erase Scheme 3.

FIG. 50. Parasitic capacitance during Page Erase Scheme 3.

FIG. 51. Page Erase/Multiple Page Erase Timing—Page Erase Scheme 3.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

A description of example embodiments of the invention follows.

The teachings of all patents, published applications and referencescited herein are incorporated by reference in their entirety.

In flash memory, especially NAND flash devices, read and programoperations are executed on a page basis while erase operations areexecuted on a block basis. Typically the page size is 512 bytes, 2048bytes, or 4096 byte while the block size is 16 pages, 32 pages, or 64pages. Therefore the minimum erasable block size is at least 16 timeslarger than the page size. Moreover, this minimum size of erasable block(i.e. unit erase block) is getting bigger as the chip size increases.

The array size mismatch between program/read and erase introduces twocritical problems in device reliability (i.e. device lifetime) andsystem performance degradation in flash file system.

Unlike hard disk (HDD), memory cells in flash memory devices must beerased before being programmed by input data. Data write operationsshould be immediately executed once the CPU or flash controller in thesystem issues the program command. Thus the erase-before-programdecreases overall system performance. In order to overcome this problem,the flash controller typically prepares empty erased blocks in advance(i.e. Erase-unit Reclamation). This reclamation can take place either inthe background (when the CPU is idle) or on-demand when the amount offree space drops below a predetermined threshold.

When the flash controller requests data write or data modification eveninto a small portion of the page, typically the block containing a pageto be modified will be rewritten to one of free (empty) blocks declaredby the erase-unit reclamation. In this case, valid pages containingoriginal data in the original block should be copied to the selectedfree block as shown in FIG. 16. The modified page is read, modified andcopied to the new block then, the new block having modified data in apage with original data in the rest of pages is remapped to the validblock address by a virtual mapping system in the flash controller. (Thevirtual mapping system is an address translation system between logicaladdresses accessed by the flash controller and physical addresses in theflash memory.) The original block is now obsolete and will be declaredas a free block by the erase-unit reclamation process. (Refer Eran Gal,Sivan Toledo, “Algorithms and Data Structures for Flash Memories,” ACMComputing Surveys, Vol. 37, No. 2, pp. 138-163, June 2005, incorporatedherein by reference in its entirety for algorithms and data structuresfor flash memories.) To minimize performance degradation due to theblock copy operation described above generally NAND flash devicessupport a page copy function without external transaction between flashdevices and the flash controller. Nevertheless, the array size mismatchbetween program/read and erase operations introduces a huge systemoverhead and complexity.

The flash memory cell is programmed and erased by either Fowler-Nordheimtunneling or hot electron injection. During a program or eraseoperation, charge is transferred to or from a floating gate through thedielectric surrounding the floating gate. This frequent charge transfercauses electrons to be trapped in the floating gate and the dielectric,which degrades program and erase characteristics of cells. Consequentcells require gradually higher program voltage and erase voltage due tothis electron trapping with an increasing number of erase-programcycles; as a result, the number of erase-program cycles on a cell islimited. Typically the maximum number of erase-program cycle (i.e. cellendurance characteristic) is between 10,000 and 100,000.

The limited number of erase-program cycles (endurance) limits thelifetime of a flash device. It would be advantageous to have a lifetimethat is as long as possible, and this depends on the pattern of accessto the flash device. Repeated and frequent rewrites to a single cell orsmall number of cells will bring the onset of failures soon and end theuseful lifetime of the device quickly

Moreover, in the flash memory system having multiple flash devices, ifthere is significantly uneven use among devices in the flash memorysystem, one device reaches an end of lifetime while other devices havesignificant life left in them. When the one device reaches an end oflifetime, the entire memory system may have to be replaced, and thisgreatly reduces the life time of the flash memory system.

If rewrites can be evenly distributed to all cells of the device, eachcell will experience close to the maximum number of erases it canendure, and so the onset of failures will be delayed as much aspossible, maximizing the lifetime of the device. To extend the devicelifetime by even use across all the cells of the device, manywear-leveling techniques and algorithms have been proposed andimplemented in the flash memory system

The block copy operations due to the array size mismatch betweenread/program and erase described in the previous section introducesunnecessary rewrites because unaffected data in pages of the blockshould be rewritten (copied) to the new block with modified data. Thusit can dramatically extend the device lifetime if the minimum erasablearray size is a page (i.e. page basis erase) instead of a block (i.e.block basis erase) because only pages to be rewritten need to be erased.In addition, the number of block copy operation will be greatly reducedby the page basis erase.

Each NAND cell string in the NAND flash memory can be controlledindependently although the cell substrate is common across NAND cellstrings of the device. All wordlines in a block during erase operationsare biased to the same voltage condition in typical NAND flash devices.This is why the minimum erasable array size is a block in the NAND flashmemory.

In order to erase flash memory cells in a page basis, each wordlinecorresponding to a page of the NAND cell string must be controlledseparately and independently.

Page Erase Scheme 1

Table 3 and FIG. 17 show bias conditions during page erase according toa page erase scheme 1 (for example, erase of wordline 27). With the pageerase scheme 1, unselected wordlines are biased to a voltage forpreventing the unselected page(s) from being erased, for example, Verswhile the selected wordline(s) is(are) biased to another voltage forerasing the selected page(s), for example, 0V.

As shown in FIG. 17, within the selected block

-   -   Selected wordline(s) in the selected block is(are) biased to 0V        for erase, and    -   Unselected wordline(s) in the selected block is(are) biased to        Vers for erase inhibit.

To prevent erasure of memory cells in unselected blocks, all wordlinesin unselected blocks are floated during erase operations, which is thesame as the prior art 2, while bias conditions shown in Table 3 areapplied to the selected block as shown in FIG. 18. Therefore floatedwordlines in unselected blocks are boosted to nearly erase voltage Versby capacitive coupling between the substrate and wordlines in unselectedblocks as applying erase voltage Vers to the substrate. (The wordlinesare boosted to about 90% of Vers when the substrate of the cell arraygoes to Vers; however, boosted voltage level on floated wordlines isdetermined by coupling ratio between the substrate and wordlines.) Theboosted voltage on wordlines in unselected blocks reduces electric fieldbetween the substrate and wordlines; as a result, erasure of memorycells in unselected blocks is prevented.

All wordlines in unselected blocks are floating.

TABLE 3 Bias Conditions during Page Erase - Page Erase Scheme 1 SELECTEDBLOCK UNSELECTED BLOCK BITLINES (B/L) CLAMPED TO CLAMPED TO VERS-VERS-0.6 V 0.6 V STRING SELECT BOOSTED TO BOOSTED TO APPROX. LINE (SSL)APPROX. 90% OF 90% OF VERS VERS SELECTED 0 V BOOSTED TO APPROX. WORDLINE90% OF VERS UNSELECTED VERS BOOSTED TO APPROX. WORDLINE 90% OF VERSGROUND SELECT BOOSTED TO BOOSTED TO APPROX. LINE (GSL) APPROX. 90% OF90% OF VERS VERS COMMON SOURCE CLAMPED TO CLAMPED TO VERS- LINE (CSL)VERS-0.6 V 0.6 V SUBSTRATE VERS VERS (POCKET P-WELL)

Page Erase Schemes 2A and 2B

The bias condition for the page erase schemes 2A and 2B is as follows:

-   -   Cell gate (wordline) is biased to negative voltage −V1 (first        level voltage).    -   Cell substrate is biased to a second level voltage.    -   Electric field between cell gate and substrate should meet a        requirement to incur F-N tunneling through the tunnel oxide of        the cell.    -   Trapped electrons (charge) in the floating poly (i.e. floating        gate) of the cell are emitted to the substrate through the        tunnel oxide.    -   The maximum of the second level voltage with the cell gate        voltage of 0V should not introduce cell erase disturbance on        unselected neighboring pages (e.g. shifting threshold voltage or        soft-erase).    -   −V1 and the second level voltage can be varied in accordance        with process technology and cell characteristics.

FIG. 19 shows voltage bias condition with the page erase scheme 2A toselected page (wordline 27 in this example) in the selected block duringerase operation. The selected wordline 27 (page) is biased to negativevoltage −18V (−V1) while unselected wordlines are biased to 0V. Thesubstrate of the cell array is biased to 0V (V2=0V). Again the voltagescan be varied in accordance with process technology and cellcharacteristic, which will be explained hereafter in conjunction withFIGS. 21 and 22 and Table 5. With the new erase condition, all cells ofthe selected page are erased while all cells of unselected pages are noterased due to no effective magnitude of electric field between the cellgate and the substrate.

Table 4 and FIG. 20 show bias conditions for the selected block andunselected blocks. All wordlines of unselected blocks are floatingduring erase; hence the potential of all wordlines remain at 0V becausethe substrate is biased to 0V and all wordlines of unselected blocks aredischarged to 0V before being floated for the erase.

TABLE 4 Bias Condition during Erase - Page Erase Scheme 2A SELECTEDBLOCK UNSELECTED BLOCK BITLINES (B/L) 0 V 0 V STRING SELECT LINE 0 VFLOATING AT 0 V (SSL) SELECTED −18 V (−V1) FLOATING AT 0 V WORDLINESUNSELECTED 0 V FLOATING AT 0 V WORDLINES GROUND SELECT LINE 0 V FLOATINGAT 0 V (GSL) COMMON SOURCE 0 V 0 V LINE (CSL) SUBSTRATE (P-WELL 0 V 0 VOR POCKET P-WELL)

FIG. 21 shows voltage bias condition with the page erase scheme 2B to aselected page (wordline 27 in this example) in the selected block duringerase operation. The selected wordline 27 (page) is biased to negativevoltage −13V (−V1) while unselected wordlines are biased to 0V. Thesubstrate of the cell array is biased to 5V. Total electric fieldbetween the gate and the substrate of cells is the same as that of thefirst example. Voltage to the substrate should be determined not tointroduce erase disturbance (i.e. soft-erase) to cells on the unselectedwordlines (pages) in the same NAND cell string.

Table 5 and FIG. 22 show bias conditions for the selected block andunselected blocks. All wordlines of unselected blocks are floatingduring erase operations, all wordlines of unselected blocks are boostedto nearly the substrate voltage by capacitive coupling between thesubstrate and wordlines in unselected blocks as applying voltage to thesubstrate. (The boosted voltage is about 90% of substrate voltage;however boosted voltage level on floated wordlines is determined bycoupling ratio between the substrate and wordlines) The boosted voltageon wordlines in unselected blocks reduces electric field between thesubstrate and wordlines; as a result, erasure of memory cells inunselected blocks is prevented.

TABLE 5 Bias Conditions during Erase - Page Erase Scheme 2B SELECTEDBLOCK UNSELECTED BLOCK BITLINES (B/L) CLAMPED TO CLAMPED TOSUBSTRATE-0.6 V SUBSTRATE-0.6 V STRING SELECT LINE BOOSTED TO BOOSTED TO(SSL) APPROX. 90% OF APPROX. 90% OF SUBSTRATE SUBSTRATE SELECTED −13 V(−V1) BOOSTED TO WORDLINES APPROX. 90% OF SUBSTRATE UNSELECTED 0 VBOOSTED TO WORDLINES APPROX. 90% OF SUBSTRATE GROUND SELECT BOOSTED TOBOOSTED TO LINE (GSL) APPROX. 90% OF APPROX. 90% OF SUBSTRATE SUBSTRATECOMMON SOURCE CLAMPED TO CLAMPED TO LINE (CSL) SUBSTRATE-0.6 VSUBSTRATE-0.6 V SUBSTRATE (POCKET 5 V SUBSTRATE 5 V SUBSTRATE P-WELL)

Multiple Pages Erase and Block Erase

With the new page erase concept, multiple pages (wordlines) in theselected block can be erased. In fact, by selective control of thewordline voltages, any one or more pages of a selected block may beerased. Furthermore, entire pages of the selected block can be alsoerased, which is basically block erase.

FIG. 23 shows three pages (wordline 1, 27, 29) in the selected block areerased at the same time using bias conditions of the page erase scheme1.

FIG. 24 shows three pages (wordline 1, 27, 29) in the selected block areerased at the same time using bias condition of the page erase scheme2A.

FIG. 25 shows three pages (wordline 1, 27, 29) in the selected block areerased at the same time using bias condition of the page erase scheme2B.

FIG. 26 shows all pages in the selected block are erased at the sametime using bias condition of the page erase scheme 2A, which is theblock erase.

FIG. 27 shows all pages in the selected block are erased at the sametime using bias condition of the page erase scheme 2B, which is theblock erase.

Erase Verify

After erasing a single page or multiple pages or all pages in theselected block, the erase verify must be performed to guarantee thaterased cells have proper threshold voltage margin to be read. This eraseverify is performed by page buffers described below. FIG. 28, FIG. 29,FIG. 30, and Table 6 show voltage bias conditions during page eraseverify and block erase verify. For multiple page verify, each selectedpage maybe verified consecutively (sequentially) after erase, but in apreferred approach, all are verified at once. Voltage numbers (i.e.Vread, Versvf, Vcslevf and Vbersvf) in Table 6 can be varied inaccordance with process technology and cell characteristic.

FIG. 28 shows single page erase verify without source bias, FIG. 29shows single page erase verify with source bias from CSL. FIG. 30 showsblock erase verify.

TABLE 6 Bias Condition during Erase Verify PAGE ERASE PAGE ERASE VERIFYBLOCK VERIFY WITH WITHOUT ERASE SOURCE BIAS SOURCE BIAS VERIFY BITLINES(B/L) PRECHARGED PRECHARGED PRE- AND SENSED AND SENSED CHARGED ANDSENSED STRING VREAD (4~5 V) VREAD (4~5 V) VREAD SELECT LINE (4~5 V)(SSL) SELECTED 0 V OR VERS_(VF) VERSVF 0 V OR WORDLINES (~−1.5 V)VBERSVF UNSELECTED VREAD (4~5 V) VREAD (4~5 V) N/A WORDLINES GROUNDVREAD (4~5 V) VREAD (4~5 V) VREAD SELECT LINE (4~5 V) (GSL) COMMONVCSLEVF 0 V 0 V SOURCE LINE (~0.4 V) (CSL) SUBSTRATE 0 V 0 V 0 V (POCKETP- WELL)

The final column of Table 6 shows the block erase verify where allwordlines are selected. Those conditions can be compared to aconventional block erase verify. 0 volts, or for a less tolerantverification, a minus voltage such as −1.5V, is applied to eachwordline. As can be seen by reference to FIG. 10B, a properly erasedmemory cell will conduct with 0 volts applied to the wordline. If,however, the memory cell has not been fully erased, the memory cell willconduct less or not at all. In the block erase verify, any one of thememory cells failing to fully conduct will result in a higher voltage onthe bitline that can be sensed as a failure to fully erase.

In the case of erase verify with a single selected page where only thatpage has been erased, each of the other memory cells of the string maybe in either on state or off state. To account for that, a high voltageof, for example, 4-5V is applied to the wordline of each unselectedcell. That voltage is higher than the threshold voltage even when thecell has been programmed to the off state as seen in FIG. 11B. Thus, thecell will conduct even where it is been programmed to the off state, andall unselected memory cells will conduct. Setting the selected wordlineto zero volts enables verification of just that selected wordline.

With the high conduction of all unselected cells in the string, a lowervoltage on the bit line than is typical during a verify operation wouldbe expected. To offset that increased conduction of the unselectedmemory cells, either a negative voltage, such as −1.5 volts in thesecond column of Table 6, can be applied to the selected wordlines, or avoltage higher than zero volts, such as 0.4V shown in column one ofTable 6, can be applied to the common source line. As a result, forverification, the selected memory cell must be more conductive forverification to offset the higher conductance of the unselected cells.

It is generally preferable to generate positive bias voltages thannegative voltages, so the page erase verify with positive common sourcebias is generally preferred. Appropriate voltages of the common sourceline might, for example, fall in the range of 0.3V-0.5V for a singlepage. For multiple page erase verify of less than a full block, lesservoltages are appropriate. For example, with a 0V common source voltagefor a full block erase verify and 0.5V for a 1 page verify, it might beappropriate to decrease the source voltage from 0.5V by increments of0.5/32 for each additional page being verified at once with the firstpage. Such fine control of the source voltage should not be required.However, the source voltage of 0.5V might, for example be used forverification of 0 through 8 selected wordlines at once, 0.4V might beused for verification of 9 through 16 select wordlines, 0.3V for 17-24wordlines and 0V for 25-32 wordlines.

Page Erase Flow

Unlike program operations, typically, erase operations do not requiremultiple erase and erase verify cycles since the threshold voltage ofcells after a single erase and erase verify cycle is tightly distributedto the target value. However multiple erase and erase verify cycles alsocan be applied to ensure target threshold voltage of erased cells

FIG. 31 shows a page erase flow using a single erase and erase verifycycle while FIG. 32 shows a page erase flow using multiple erase anderase verify cycles. The maximum number of erase and erase verify cyclesfor the multiple erase and erase verify cycles method is predeterminedand will be varied in accordance with process technology and cellcharacteristic. This page erase algorithm (flow) is automaticallyperformed after issuing a page erase command in flash memory devices

In FIG. 31 at 311, one or more selected pages, up to and including afull block, are erased. At 312, that one or more pages are verified tohave been erased. From 313, if the memory pass the verification, thestatus register is updated to pass at 314, and if not, it is updated tofail at 315.

Alternatively, as illustrated in FIG. 32, a value ERS_loop is set to oneat 320. In the case of no pass as 313, the ERS_loop value is compared toa maximum at 321. If the maximum has not been reached, the value isincremented at 322 and the erase and verify procedures are repeated.Once the maximum number of loops has been reached, the failure isindicated in the register at 315.

Alternatively, after a multiple page erase, each selected page may beverified individually. With sequential verify of the individual pages,the multiple page erase may be repeated after the failure of any onepage, or only failed pages may be again erased.

Example of Circuit Implementation

FIG. 33 depicts a simplified block diagram of NAND flash core. The NANDcell array 331 comprises n blocks 332 like conventional NAND flash. Thepage buffer circuit 333 senses and latches cell data during read,program verify and erase verify. Also the page buffer circuittemporarily holds input data and determines the voltage of bitlines inaccordance with input data during program operations. All (j+k)*8bitlines from the NAND cell array are connected to the page buffercircuit. The block decoder 334 corresponding to each NAND cell blockprovides signals as SSL (String Select Line), wordline 0 (WL0) to 31(WL31) and GSL (ground select line). Block decoders are driven by rowpredecoded address signals Xp/Xq/Xr/Xt, from row predecoder 335, andstring select signal SS, ground select signal GS and common stringdecode signals S0 to S31 from common wordline decoder 336. A substratevoltage is applied to the PP-well from a charge pump 337.

In this document, input and output circuit, control circuit, row andcolumn pre decoder circuit, internal high voltage generator are notdescribed because they are well described in many published papers andpatents. Refer to references Kang-Deog Suh et al., “A 3.3 V 32 Mb NANDFlash Memory with Incremental Step Pulse Programming Scheme,” IEEE JSolid-State Circuits, vol. 30, no. 11, pp. 1149-1156, April 1995, Jin-KiKim et al., “A 120-mm 64-Mb NAND Flash Memory Achieving 180 ns/ByteEffective Program Speed,” IEEE J Solid-State Circuits, vol. 32, no. 5,pp. 670-680, April 1997, Ken Takeuchi, et al., “A 56 nm CMOS 99 mm2 8 GbMulti-level NAND Flash Memory with 10 MB/s Program Throughput,” ISSCCDig. Tech. Paper, pp. 144-145, February 2006, and June Lee et al., “A90-nm CMOS 1.8-V 2-Gb NAND Flash Memory for Mass Storage Applications,”IEEE J Solid-State Circuits, vol. 38, no. 11, pp. 1934-1942, November2003 incorporated by reference in their entireties.

As in the conventional Flash device of FIG. 9, the NAND cell arrayconsists of n blocks and each block is subdivided into 32 (m) erasableand programmable pages (i.e. wordlines). There are (j+k)*8 bitline inthe NAND cell array. Note that the number of block n, the number of pagem and the number of (j+k)*8 can be varied.

FIG. 34 illustrates a circuit schematic of block decoder which is one ofpossible examples for this invention, especially for the page erasescheme 1. Note that there are many variations on circuit implementationfor the block decoder. The total number of the block decoder is n.

The string select line SSL, wordlines WL0 to WL31 and the ground selectline GSL are driven by common signals of SS, S0 to S31 and GS throughpass transistors TSS, TS0 to TS31 and TGS which are commonly controlledby the output signal BD_out of the block decoder.

The local charge pump 341 is a high voltage switching circuit to provideprogram voltage Vpgm, pass voltage Vpass, read voltage Vread7, and erasevoltage Vers. It consists of enhancement NMOS transistor (ENH),depletion NMOS transistor (DEP), native NMOS transistor (NAT) and a2-input NAND gate G1. The output signal BD_out of the block decoder israised to Vhv when the block decoder latch output BDLCH_out is Vdd,HVenb is 0V and the OSC is oscillated (note: the local charge pump is awell known circuit technique).

The BDLCH_out is reset to 0V when the RST_BD to the block decode resettransistor is high (actually short pulse) and latched when the LCHBDinput to the block decode enable transistor is high (actually shortpulse) with valid row predecoded address signals of Xp, Xq, Xr and Xt toNAND gate G2. BDLCH_out is latched by inverters I1 and I2.

FIG. 35 illustrates a circuit schematic of block decoder for the pageerase schemes 2A and 2B. Note that there are many variations on circuitimplementation for the block decoder. The total number of the blockdecoders is n.

The string select line SSL, wordlines WL0 to WL31 and the ground selectline GSL are driven by common signals of SS, S0 to S31 and GS throughpass transistors TSS, TS0 to TS31 and TGS which are commonly controlledby the output signal BD_out of the block decoder. The substrate of passtransistors TSS, TS0 to TS31 and TGS are controlled by the negative highvoltage Vnhv.

The high voltage level shifter 351 is a high voltage switching circuitto provide positive high voltage Vhv and negative high voltage Vnhv. Thelevel shifter circuit includes cross-coupled p-channel transistors Q1and Q2 and n-channel pull down devices Q3 and Q4. When the input to Q3and I3 is high, BD_out is pulled high as Vhv is applied through Q1, andwhen low, Bd out is pulled low to Vnhv through Q4.

The BD_out is reset to 0V when the RST_BD is high (actually short pulse)and latched by inverters I1 and I2 when the LCHBD is high (actuallyshort pulse) with valid row predecoded address signals of Xp, Xq, Xr andXt to gate G2.

Table 7 shows an example of Vhv and Vnhv condition for various operatingmodes. All voltage numbers can be changed.

TABLE 7 Vhv and Vnhv Condition - Page Erase Scheme 2A and 2B VHV VNHVREAD  ~7 V (VREAD7) 0 V PROGRAM ~18 V 0 V PROGRAM VERIFY  ~7 V (VREAD7)0 V ERASE VDD ~−18 V OR −13 V ERASE VERIFY  ~7 V (VREAD7) ~−1.5 V OR 0 V

The page buffer and column selector circuit is the same as that inconventional NAND flash as shown in FIG. 36. Again the page buffer andcolumn selector circuit shown in FIG. 36 is one of possible examples forthis invention.

One page buffer corresponds to one bitline. However the page buffer canbe shared by multiple bitlines as the array density increases (refer toreference June Lee et al., “A 90-nm CMOS 1.8-V 2-Gb NAND Flash Memoryfor Mass Storage Applications,” IEEE J Solid-State Circuits, vol. 38,no. 11, pp. 1934-1942, November 2003, incorporated by reference in itsentirety.)

The page buffer and column selector circuit of FIG. 36 is used in read,program verify and erase verify operations. In the erase verifyoperation, the latch is reset by LCHDA to latch node B high. The bitlineBL is precharged to Vcc. If all selected memory cells are properlyerased, the string of memory cells will conduct during the erase verifyoperation, thus pulling the bitline and node PBSO low. The bitlineisolation transistor remains off. With PBSO less than about 0.5v, thesense transistor below the latch will not turn on, so node B remainshigh. The high voltage on the B node keeps the pass/fail p-channel sensetransistor off. As a result, that sense transistor will not charge theinitially grounded line PASSb. If all strings are properly erased, theline PASSb remains low and a “pass” is sensed from that line.

If, on the other hand, any string has not fully erased, the voltage onnode PBSO will remain sufficiently high to turn on the sense transistorsas LCHDB is asserted. As a result, node B is pulled low. With node B lowon any of the page buffers in the selected block, a pass/fail sensetransistor will turn on and raise PASSb to a high level. That high levelis sensed to indicate a “fail”.

In operation:

-   -   W/L0 to W/L31 are 32 wordlines within NAND cell string. SSL is        string select line and GSL is ground select line. CSL is common        source line and DL/DLb are differential datalines.    -   CSL is biased to 0V during read operation while CSL is biased to        Vdd during program.    -   YAh and YBi are 1st level of column select signal and 2nd level        of column select signal, respectively.    -   Bitline (BL) is discharged to 0V when the DCB is high.    -   PBSO is a sense node of the page buffer.    -   PREBLb is an enable signal for precharging bitline.    -   LCHDA and LCHDB are data latch control signals when the PBSO        node has enough voltage differential after sensing bitline. In        addition, the LCHDA and LCHDB control the polarity of sensed        data in the page buffer (i.e. node A and node B). The node A and        B on the page buffer during read and program verify are opposite        to the node A and B during erase verify and read for copy when        sensing the PBSO.    -   Latch in the page buffer is reset by either the LCHDA or LCHDB        with the PBSO node of High (Vdd) by the bitline precharge        transistor.    -   ISOPBb is a control signal to BL isolation transistor for        isolating the page buffer from the bitline.    -   PASSb is a common sense node to detect program completion. When        input data are successfully written to cells by internal program        algorithm using program and program verify, the node B in all        page buffers will be Vdd. Thus the PASSb will be 0V and sensed        by a sense amplifier. Similarly the node B in all page buffers        will be Vdd during erase verify if all strings in the selected        block are successfully erased. During a read cycle, the PASSb is        not used and the sense amplifier on the PASSb is disabled.

Erase Operation

FIG. 37 shows the core timing of page erase or multiple page erase withthe page erase scheme 1

Basically the erase operation consists of three sub-periods as EraseSetup (from t1 to t2), Erase (t2 to t3) and Erase Recovery (from t3 tot4) shown in FIG. 37.

Erase Setup (t1 to t2):

-   -   The block decoder is reset by the RST_BD pulse and the BDLCH_out        of the latch in the block decoder goes to 0V.    -   The latch enable signal LCHBD of the block decoder is pulsed        once row predecoded signals Xp/Xq/Xr/Xt are valid.    -   The BDLCH_out of the latch is set to Vdd when row predecoded        signals Xp/Xq/Xr/Xt are matched (Vhv is set to Vers during        erase).    -   The output signal BD_out of the block decoder is raised to        (Vers+Vth) by the local charge pump when HVneb is 0V and the OSC        is oscillated.    -   The BD_out of unselected blocks are set to 0V. As a result, all        wordlines, SSL, GSL, CSL in unselected blocks are floated.        Erase (t2 to t3):    -   During this period, the cell substrate (pocket p-well) is biased        to Vers.    -   The selected wordline for single page erase is or selected        wordlines for multiple page erase are biased to 0V while        unselected wordlines are driven to Vers by common signals of S0        to S31 through pass transistors TS0 to TS31.    -   The string select line SSL, ground select line GSL and common        source CSL are floated. The SSL and GSL in the selected block        are boosted to nearly 90% of Vers by capacitive coupling between        the substrate and SSL/GSL when the cell substrate goes to Vers.        The CLS goes to Vers due to junction forward bias from the        substrate (PP-well) to the source (n+).    -   During this period, all cells on the selected page(pages)        is(are) erased. Erasure of memory cells in unselected wordlines        in the selected block is prevented by 0 electric field (i.e.        wordlines=Vers & cell substrate=Vers).    -   All pass transistors TS0 to TS31 in unselected blocks are turned        off by the output BD_out of unselected block decoders. Hence all        wordlines in unselected blocks are floated and boosted to nearly        90% by capacitive decoupling between the cell substrate and        wordlines.        Erase Recovery (t3 to t4):    -   During this period, all high voltages on the cell substrate,        unselected selected wordline, SSL, GSL, and CSL are discharged        to the initial state (0V).

FIG. 38 shows the core timing of page erase or multiple page erase withthe page erase scheme 2A.

Erase Setup (t1 to t2):

-   -   The block decoder is reset by the RST_BD pulse and the BD_out of        the block decoder goes to 0V.    -   The latch enable signal LCHBD of the block decoder is pulsed        once row predecoded signals Xp/Xq/Xr/Xt are valid.    -   The BD_out of the block decoder is set to Vdd when row        predecoded signals Xp/Xq/Xr/Xt are matched (Vhv is set to Vdd        during erase).    -   The BD_out of unselected blocks are set to Vnhv.        Erase (t2 to t3):    -   The substrate of pass transistors TS, TS0 to TS31 and TG are        biased to −V1 (−18V) by Vnhv to pass the negative voltage −V1        (−18V).    -   During this period, selected wordline for single page erase or        selected wordlines for multiple page erase are driven to −V1        (−18V) while unselected wordlines are biased to 0V by common        signals of S0 to S31 through pass transistors TS0 to TS31.    -   The string select line SSL and ground select line GSL are biased        to 0V.    -   The gate of pass transistors TS0 to TS31 in unselected blocks        are biased to Vnhv during the erase setup period and the Vnhv        goes to −V1 (−18) during this period. Therefore pass transistors        TS0 to TS31 are turned off and all wordlines of unselected        blocks are floated.    -   During this period, all cells on the selected page (or pages)        are erased.        Erase Recovery (t3 to t4):    -   During this period, the negative voltage on the selected        wordline and the substrate of pass transistors returns to the        initial state (0V).

FIG. 39 shows the core timing of page erase or multiple page erase usingthe page erase scheme 2B with −V1 of −13V and V2 of 5V.

Erase Setup (t1 to t2):

-   -   The block decoder is reset by the RST_BD pulse and the BD_out of        the block decoder goes to 0V.    -   The latch enable signal LCHBD of the block decoder is pulsed        once row predecoded signals Xp/Xq/Xr/Xt are valid.    -   The BD_out of the block decoder is set to Vdd when row        predecoded signals Xp/Xq/Xr/Xt are matched (Vhv is set to Vdd        during erase).    -   The BD_out of unselected blocks are set to Vnhv.        Erase (t2 to t3):    -   The substrate of pass transistors TS, TS0 to TS31 and TG are        biased to −V1 (−13V) by Vnhv to pass the negative voltage −V1        (−13V).    -   The substrate of the cell array is biased to V2 (5V).    -   During this period, selected wordline for single page erase or        selected wordlines for multiple page erase are driven to −V1        (−13V) while unselected wordlines are biased to 0V by common        signals of S0 to S31 through pass transistors TS0 to TS31.    -   The string select line SSL and ground select line GSL are        floated and boosted to 90% of V2 (5V) due to capacitive coupling        from the substrate of the cell array.    -   Common source line CSL and bitlines are V2 (5V) due to forwarded        junction bias from the substrate of the cell array.    -   The gate of pass transistors TS0 to TS31 in unselected blocks        are biased during the erase setup period and the Vnhv goes to        −V1 (−13) during this period. Therefore pass transistors TS0 to        TS31 are turned off and all wordlines of unselected blocks are        floated.    -   During this period, all cells on the selected page (or pages)        are erased.        Erase Recovery (t3 to t4):    -   During this period, the negative voltage on the selected        wordline and the substrate of pass transistors returns to        initial state (0V).    -   The voltage on the substrate of the cell array, SSL, GSL, CSL        returns to the initial state (0V).

The core timing of block erase using the page erase scheme 1 is the sameas that of the prior art U.S. Pat. No. 5,472,563, incorporated herein byreference in its entirety.

FIG. 40 shows the core timing of block erase using the page erase scheme2A with −V1 of −18V and V2 of 0V.

Erase Setup (t1 to t2):

-   -   The block decoder is reset by the RST_BD pulse and the BD_out of        the block decoder goes to 0V.    -   The latch enable signal LCHBD of the block decoder is pulsed        once row predecoded signals Xp/Xq/Xr/Xt are valid.    -   The BD_out of the block decoder is set to Vdd when row        predecoded signals Xp/Xq/Xr/Xt are matched (Vhv is set to Vdd        during erase).    -   The BD_out of unselected blocks are set to Vnhv.        Erase (t2 to t3):    -   The substrate of pass transistors TS, TS0 to TS31 and TG are        biased to −V1 (−18V) by Vnhv to pass the negative voltage −V1        (−18V).    -   During this period, all wordline in the selected block are        driven to −V1 (−18V) by common signals of S0 to S31 through pass        transistors TS0 to TS13.    -   The string select line SSL and ground select line GSL are biased        to 0V.    -   The gate of pass transistors TS0 to TS31 in unselected blocks        are biased during the erase setup period and the Vnhv goes to        −V1 (−18) during this period. Therefore pass transistors TS0 to        TS31 are turned off and all wordlines of unselected blocks are        floated.    -   During this period, all cells in the selected block are erased.        Erase Recovery (t3 to t4):    -   During this period, the negative voltage on all wordlines of the        selected block and the substrate of pass transistors returns to        the initial state (0V).

FIG. 41 shows the core timing of block erase using the page erase scheme2B with −V1 of −13V and V2 of 5V.

Erase Setup (t1 to t2):

-   -   The block decoder is reset by the RST_BD pulse and the BD_out of        the block decoder is goes to 0V.    -   The latch enable signal LCHBD of the block decoder is pulsed        once row predecoded signals Xp/Xq/Xr/Xt are valid.    -   The BD_out of the block decoder is set to Vdd when row        predecoded signals Xp/Xq/Xr/Xt are matched (Vhv is set to Vdd        during erase).    -   The BD_out of unselected blocks are set to Vnhv.        Erase (t2 to t3):    -   The substrate of pass transistors TS, TS0 to TS31 and TG are        biased to −V1 (−13V) by Vwpt to pass the negative voltage −V1        (−13V).    -   The substrate of the cell array is biased to V2 (5V).    -   During this period, all wordlines in the selected block are        driven to −V1 (−13V) by common signals of S0 to S31 through pass        transistors TS0 to TS13.    -   The string select line SSL and ground select line GSL are        floated and boosted to 90% of V2 (5V) due to capacitive coupling        from the substrate of the cell array.    -   Common source line CSL is V2 (5V) due to junction forwarded bias        from the substrate of the cell array.    -   The gate of pass transistors TS0 to TS31 in unselected blocks        are biased during the erase setup period and the Vnhv goes to        −V1 (−13) during this period. Therefore pass transistors TS0 to        TS31 are turned off and all wordlines of unselected blocks are        floated.    -   During this period, all cells in the selected block are erased.        Erase Recovery (t3 to t4):    -   During this period, the negative voltage on all wordlines of the        selected block and the substrate of pass transistors returns to        the initial state (0V).    -   The voltage on the substrate of the cell array, SSL, GSL, CSL        returns to the initial state (0V).

Erase Verify Operation

Erase verify operation consists of five sub-periods as Erase VerifySetup (from t1 to t2), BL Precharge (t2 to t3), BL Sense (from t3 tot4), Data Latch (from t4 to t5) and Erase Verify Recovery (from t5 tot6) shown in FIG. 42, FIG. 43, FIG. 44 and FIG. 45.

FIG. 42 shows the core timing of page erase verify for the page erasescheme 1. The voltage level of voltage sources described in here ispossible example and can be varied.

Page Erase Verify Setup (t1 to t2):

-   -   The BD_out of the block decoder is set to Vdd in previous erase        operation    -   (Vhv is set to Vdd during erase verify).    -   The BD_out of unselected blocks are set to 0V in previous erase        operation.    -   Discharge bitlines to ground by DCB pulse.    -   Latch in the page buffer is reset by LCHDA pulse with PREBLb        pulse. During this short pulse period, the PBSO node is Vdd by        BL precharge transistor. The node A and B are reset to 0V and        Vdd, respectively.    -   The PBSO node is discharged to 0V by SELBL after resetting the        latch.        BL Precharge (t2 to t3):    -   The BD_out of the block decoder goes to Vread7 (˜7V) by the        local charge pump when HVneb is 0V and the OSC is oscillated.        Thus the gate of pass transistors TSS, TS0 to TS31 and TGS in        the selected block is raised to Vread7 (˜7V).    -   SSL, unselected wordline and GSL are charged to Vread (4˜5V) by        SS, unselected S and GS.    -   The selected wordline is biased to 0V by the selected S while        the CSL of the selected block is biased to Vcslevf (˜0.4V) to        verify erased cell having negative cell Vth of the selected page        (i.e. source bias sensing scheme for cells having negative cell        Vth).    -   Bitlines are precharged to a predetermined precharge level        (˜1.3V) when PREBLb goes to ‘Low’. The SELBL goes to Vblpre        (˜2.3V) which determines the bitline precharge level using the        BL select transistor.        BL Sense (t3 to t4):    -   Bitlines are disconnected from the page buffer by disabling BL        select transistor (SELBL=0V) and the BL precharge transistor is        turned off.    -   The level of precharged bitlines is developed based on cell        state. Each bitline maintains the precharged voltage level if        the cell is incompletely erased because the cell is still        off-cell and can not discharge the precharged bitline voltage.        If the cell is completely erased, on the contrary, the cell is        on-cell and discharges the precharged bitline during this        period.        Data Latch (t4 to t5):    -   During this period, the SELBL is biased to Vbldcpl (˜1.3V),        which allows a capacitive decoupling between the bitline and the        PBSO.    -   With capacitive decoupling sensing scheme, the voltage on the        PBSO node corresponding to the bitline of the erased cell        (on-cell) is dropped rapidly by charge sharing between the        bitline and the sense node PBSO having relatively very small        parasitic capacitance compared to the selected bitline.    -   Once the bitline develops enough voltage level by capacitive        decoupling operation between the bitline and the PBSO node, the        data latching operation performs by enabling the LCHDB signal.    -   The voltage of Vdd at the PBSO node due to incompletely erased        cells on the NAND string turns on the sense transistor in the        page buffer. As a result, the node A is flipped to 0V from Vdd        (node B is flipped to Vdd from 0V) as soon as LCHDB is applied.    -   The low voltage (0.3˜0.4V) at the PBSO node due to erased cells        (on-cell) on the NAND string does not affect the page buffer        data. Thus the page buffer holds initial state (i.e. node A is        Vdd & node B is 0V).    -   If the selected cell on the NAND string is successfully erased,        the node A and the node B are 0V and Vdd, respectively after BL        sense and latch operation during erase verify.    -   If the selected cell on the NAND string is incompletely erased,        the node A and the node B are Vdd and 0V, respectively after BL        sense and latch operation during erase verify.        Page Erase Verify Recovery (t5 to t6):    -   During this period, all bitlines are discharged by the DCB while        all latches in page buffers hold the sensed data.    -   SSL, unselected wordlines, GSL and CSL are discharged to 0V        during this period. The selected wordline and the substrate of        pass transistors TSS, TS0 to TS31 and TGS also return to 0V from        erase verify voltage Versvf.    -   If all cells on the selected wordline (page) are successfully        erased, the node A and the node B of the latch in all page        buffers are set to 0V and Vdd, respectively. Thus all pull-up        PMOS transistors (Pass/Fail Sense transistors) on PASSb are        disabled since the gate of each PMOS transistor is connected to        the node B of the latch. Finally the PASSb can be sensed by a        sense amp in a detection circuitry for generating erase        pass/fail flag. The sense amplifier for sensing the PASSb is not        described; however, it can be implemented by well known, simple        sense amplifier.

For the multiple page erase verify, selected pages are verifiedsequentially (i.e. erase verify in a page basis).

FIG. 43 shows the core timing of block erase verify with the page erasescheme 1. The core signal timing the block erase verify is basically thesame as that of the page erase verify. However differences are:

-   -   All cells of the selected block (i.e. NAND cell string) are        verified simultaneously as shown in FIG. 43.    -   All wordlines of the selected block are biased to 0V without        source bias (i.e. CSL=0V) or with source bias (i.e.        CSL=Vcslevf).

FIG. 44 shows the core timing of page erase verify for the page erasescheme 2A and 2B. The voltage level of voltage sources described in hereis possible example and can be varied.

Page Erase Verify Setup (t1 to t2):

-   -   The BD_out of the block decoder is set to Vdd in previous erase        operation (Vhv is set to Vdd during erase verify).    -   The BD_out of unselected blocks are set to Vnhv in previous        erase operation.    -   Discharge bitlines to ground by DCB pulse.    -   Latch in the page buffer is reset by LCHDA pulse with PREBLb        pulse. During this short pulse period, the PBSO node is Vdd by        BL precharge transistor. The node A and B are reset to 0V and        Vdd, respectively.    -   The PBSO node is discharged to 0V by SELBL after resetting the        latch.        BL Precharge (t2 to t3):    -   During this period, Vhv goes to Vread7 (˜7V) while Vnhv goes to        Versvf (˜−1.5V). Thus the gate of pass transistors TSS, TS0 to        TS31 and TGS in the selected block is raised to Vread7 (˜7V).        Also the substrate of pass transistors is biased to Versvf        (˜−1.5V) by Vnhv.    -   SSL, unselected wordline and GSL are charged to Vread (4˜5V) by        SS, unselected S and GS.    -   The selected wordline is biased to erase verify voltage Versvf        (˜−1.5V) by the selected S.    -   Bitlines are precharged to a predetermined precharge level when        PREBLb goes to ‘Low’. The SELBL goes to Vblpre (˜2.1V) which        determines the bitline precharge level using the BL select        transistor.        BL Sense (t3 to t4):    -   Bitlines are disconnected from the page buffer by disabling BL        select transistor (SELBL=0V) and the BL precharge transistor is        turned off.    -   The level of precharged bitlines is developed based on cell        state. Each bitline maintains the precharged voltage level if        the cell is incompletely erased because the cell is still        off-cell and can not discharge the precharged bitline voltage.        If the cell is completely erased, on the contrary, the cell is        on-cell and discharges the precharged bitline during this        period.        Data Latch (t4 to t5):    -   During this period, the SELBL is biased to Vbldcpl (˜1.3V),        which allows a capacitive decoupling between the bitline and the        PBSO.    -   With capacitive decoupling sensing scheme, the voltage on the        PBSO node corresponding to the bitline of the erased cell        (on-cell) is dropped rapidly by charge sharing between the        bitline and the sense node PBSO having relatively very small        parasitic capacitance compared to the selected bitline.    -   Once the bitline develops enough voltage level by capacitive        decoupling operation between the bitline and the PBSO node, the        data latching operation performs by enabling the LCHDB signal.    -   The voltage of Vdd at the PBSO node due to incompletely erased        cells on the NAND string turns on the sense transistor in the        page buffer. As a result, the node A is flipped to 0V from Vdd        (node B is flipped to Vdd from 0V) as soon as LCHDB is applied.    -   The low voltage (0.3˜0.4V) at the PBSO node due to erased cells        (on-cell) on the NAND string does not affect the page buffer        data. Thus the page buffer holds initial state (i.e. node A is        Vdd & node B is 0V).    -   If the selected cell on the NAND string is successfully erased,        the node A and the node B are 0V and Vdd, respectively after BL        sense and latch operation during erase verify.    -   If the selected cell on the NAND string is incompletely erased,        the node A and the node B are Vdd and 0V, respectively after BL        sense and latch operation during erase verify.        Page Erase Verify Recovery (t5 to t6):    -   During this period, all bitlines are discharged by the DCB while        all latches in page buffers hold the sensed data.    -   SSL, unselected wordlines and GSL are discharged to 0V during        this period.    -   The selected wordline and the substrate of pass transistors TSS,        TS0 to TS31 and TGS also return to 0V from erase verify voltage        Versvf.    -   If all cells on the selected wordline (page) are successfully        erased, the node A and the node B of the latch in all page        buffers are set to 0V and Vdd, respectively. Thus all pull-up        PMOS transistors (Pass/Fail Sense transistors) on PASSb are        disabled since the gate of each PMOS transistor is connected to        the node B of the latch. Finally the PASSb can be sensed by a        sense amp in a detection circuitry for generating erase        pass/fail flag. The sense amplifier for sensing the PASSb is not        described, however it can be implemented by well known, simple        sense amplifier.

For the multiple page erase verify, selected pages are verifiedsequentially (i.e. erase verify in a page basis).

FIG. 45 shows the core timing of block erase verify. The core signaltiming the block erase verify is basically the same as that of the pageerase verify. However differences are:

-   -   Entire cells of the selected block (i.e. NAND cell string) are        verified simultaneously as shown in FIG. 45.    -   Erase verify voltage Vbersvf can be 0V or negative voltage to        ensure a proper margin of the threshold voltage on erased cells.    -   If Erase verify voltage Vbersvf is negative voltage, the        substrate of pass transistors TSS, TS0 to TS31 and TGS will be        biased to Vbersvf by Vnhv, which is similar to the condition of        the page erase verify.

Page Erase Scheme 3

Table 8 and FIGS. 46 and 47 show bias conditions during page eraseaccording to a page erase scheme 3. With the page erase scheme 3,unselected wordlines are boosted to nearly erase voltage Vers (α % ofVers when the substrate of the cell array goes to Vers, α=coupling ratiobetween the substrate and wordlines) for preventing the unselectedpage(s) from being erased while the selected wordline(s) is(are) biasedto another voltage for erasing the selected page(s), for example, 0V.

As shown in FIGS. 46 and 47, within the selected block

-   -   Selected wordline(s) in the selected block is(are) biased to 0V        for erase.    -   Unselected wordline(s) in the selected block is(are) precharged        and boosted to α % of Vers for erase inhibit (boosted voltage        level on floated wordlines is determined by coupling ratio α        between the substrate and wordlines, α˜90%).

To prevent erasure of memory cells in unselected blocks, all wordlinesin unselected blocks are floated during erase operations which is thesame as the prior art of U.S. Pat. No. 5,473,563. Therefore floatedwordlines in unselected blocks are boosted to nearly erase voltage Versby capacitive coupling between the substrate and wordlines in unselectedblocks as erase voltage Vers is applied to the substrate. (The wordlinesare boosted to α % of Vers when the substrate of the cell array goes toVers; however, boosted voltage level on floated wordlines is determinedby coupling ratio between the substrate and wordlines.) The boostedvoltage on wordlines in unselected blocks reduces electric field betweenthe substrate and wordlines; as a result, erasure of memory cells inunselected blocks is prevented.

All wordlines in unselected blocks are floating.

TABLE 8 Bias Conditions during Page/Multipage Erase - Page Erase Scheme3 SELECTED BLOCK UNSELECTED BLOCK BITLINES (B/L) CLAMPED TO CLAMPED TOVERS- VERS-0.6 V 0.6 V STRING SELECT BOOSTED TO BOOSTED TO APPROX. LINE(SSL) APPROX. 90% VERS 90% VERS SELECTED 0 V BOOSTED TO APPROX.WORDLINE(S) 90% VERS UNSELECTED BOOSTED TO BOOSTED TO APPROX. WORDLINEAPPROX. 90% VERS 90% VERS GROUND SELECT BOOSTED TO BOOSTED TO APPROX.LINE (GSL) APPROX. 90% VERS 90% VERS COMMON CLAMPED TO CLAMPED TO VERS-SOURCE LINE VERS-0.6 V 0.6 V (CSL) SUBSTRATE VERS VERS (POCKET P- WELL)

FIGS. 48 and 49 depict page erase conditions for unselected blocks, andselected page and unselected pages in the selected block.

-   -   The string select line SSL, wordlines WL0 to WL31 and the ground        select line GSL are driven by common signals of SS, S0 to S31        and GS through pass transistors TSS, TS0 to TS31 and TGS which        are commonly controlled by the output signal BD_out of the block        pre-decoder.    -   Common signals of SS, S0 to S31 and GS are connected to the        drain of pass transistors TSS, TS0 to TS31 and TGS of entire        blocks.    -   The common source line CSL is connected across entire blocks.    -   The selected common signal S (S27 in this example) corresponding        to the selected page is biased to 0V while unselected common        signals S (S0˜S26 & S28˜S31), SS and GS are biased to V1. The        common source line CSL is floated.    -   The unselected output signal BD_out n−1 of unselected block        pre-decoders connected to the gate of all pass transistors TSS,        TS0 to TS31 and TGS are 0V. Therefore the string select line        SSL, wordlines WL0 to WL31 and the ground select line GSL in        unselected blocks are initially floated and boosted to nearly        90% (α) of the erase voltage Vers to nearly 90% (α) by        capacitive coupling between the cell substrate and wordlines        when the cell substrate (pocket p-well) rises to Vers. This        boosted voltage on all wordlines in unselected block prevent        cell erase.    -   The output signal BD_out of the selected block pre-decoder        connected to the gate of all pass transistors TSS, TS0 to TS31        and TGS is V2. Therefore the selected wordline (W/L27 in this        example) is biased to 0V, driven by common signal S27 through        the pass transistor TS27, which erases cells on the selected        page.    -   Unselected wordlines (W/L0˜W/L26 & W/L28˜W/L31) in the selected        block are initially biased to V2−Vtn (Vtn: threshold voltage of        pass transistors TS0 to TS31) by common signals S0˜S26 & S28˜S31        through pass transistors TSO˜TS26 & TS28˜TS31 (i.e. pass        transistors drain=V1, gate=V2, source=V2−Vtn, and V1≧V2). After        that, unselected wordlines are boosted by capacitive coupling        between the cell substrate and wordlines when the cell substrate        (pocket p-well) rises to Vers. When unselected wordlines (i.e.        source of pass transistors) are boosted, pass transistors        (TSO˜TS26 & TS28˜TS31) are completely shut off due to bias        condition on pass transistors: drain=V1, gate=V2, and source=(α)        of Vers (boosted voltage). Therefore the boosted high voltage on        unselected wordlines in unselected block is maintained during        erase and prevents cell erasure.    -   V1 must be equal to or greater than V2 to prevent leakage of the        boosted voltage through the pass transistor, and allow the        wordline to float.

In selecting V1 and V2, it should be realized that the capacitivecoupling factor α is dependent on individual wordline selection.Whereas, in an unselected block, α is approximately 90% at eachwordline, a can be reduced adjacent to a selected wordline. The couplingis dependent on circuit characteristics but may reduce α to 50% asillustrated in FIG. 50. Given the reduced coupling, the initial voltageof the wordline should be higher in order to assure that the wordlinefloats to a level that prevents erase.

To allow for floating, V1 applied to the drain in the pass transistormust be greater than V2 applied to the gate. Thus:

V1≧V2,

Vers≧V2>Vcc

Vboosted=(V2−Vtn)+α*(Vers−(V2−Vtn)).

If V2 were to only equal Vcc, the following boosted voltages of wordlineWL28 (adjacent to a selected page) and wordline WL27 (removed from theselected page) might result:

If Vtn=0.8V, Vcc=2.5V, Vers=20V and V2=Vcc=2.5V

WL28(boostedvoltage)=(V2−Vtn)+α(Vers(V2−Vtn))=(2.5V−0.8V)+0.5*(20V1.7V)=10.85V

WL27(boostedvoltage)=(V2−Vtn)+α(Vers(V2−Vtn))=(2.5V−0.8V)+0.9*(20V−1.7V)=18.17V

It can be seen that WL27 is boosted to close to Vers and will thus avoidaccidental erasure. However, wordline WL28 is only raised to <11 volts,resulting in >9 volts difference between the wordline and the substratevoltage Vers. As a result, unintended erasure of WL28 is likely. Tosafely avoid erase, the wordline should be at least about 70% Vers, or14 volts in this example.

By raising the gate voltage V2, and thus the drain voltage V1, theinitial voltage on the wordline is higher and thus the boosted voltageis higher, despite the reduction in α. With a higher voltage V2 of 10volts, the following results in this example:

If Vtn=0.8V, Vcc=2.5V, Vers=20V and V2=10V

WL28(boostedvoltage)=(V2−Vtn)+α(Vers(V2−Vtn))=(10V−0.8V)+0.5*(20V−9.2V)=14.6V

WL27(boostedvoltage)=(V2−Vtn)+α(Vers(V2−Vtn))=(10V−0.8V)+0.9*(20V−9.2V)=18.92V

In this case, the boosted voltage on the adjacent wordline WL28 issufficiently high at 14.6 v. The reduced value of a and the acceptablevoltage difference between the wordline and substrate will vary, thusvarying the acceptable level of V2. However, in general, V2 should be atleast about 50% Vers. More generally, V2 and thus V1 should be closer tothe substrate voltage than to the select voltage applied to passtransistors of selected wordlines.

FIG. 49 shows multiple pages (wordline 1, 27, 29) in the selected blockare erased at the same time using bias conditions of the page erasescheme 3.

Previously described FIG. 34 illustrates a circuit schematic of blockdecoder which is one of possible examples for the page erase scheme 3with V1>V2.

The BDLCH_out is reset to 0V when the RST_BD is high (actually shortpulse) and latched when the LCHBD is high (actually short pulse) withvalid row predecoded address signals of Xp, Xq, Xr and Xt.

The final output signal BD_out of the block pre-decoder is commonlyconnected to the gate of all pass transistors TSS, TS0 to TS31 and TGS.The string select line SSL, wordlines WL0 to WL31 and the ground selectline GSL are driven by common signals of SS, S0 to S31 and GS throughpass transistors which are commonly controlled by the output signalBD_out of the block pre-decoder.

The local charge pump is a high voltage switching mean to provide V2 tothe output signal BD_out of the block decoder. It consists ofenhancement NMOS transistor, depletion NMOS transistor (DEP), nativeNMOS transistor (NAT) and a 2-input NAND gate. The output signal BD_outof the block decoder is raised to Vhv (=V2) when the block decoder latchoutput BDLCH_out is Vdd, HVenb is 0V and the OSC is oscillated

FIG. 51 shows the core timing of page erase or multiple page erase withthe page erase scheme 3.

Basically the erase operation consists of three sub-periods as EraseSetup (from t1 to t2), Erase (t2 to t3) and Erase Recovery (from t3 tot4) shown in FIG. 51.

Erase Setup (t1 to t2):

-   -   The block decoder latch is reset by the RST_BD pulse and the        BDLCH_out of the latch in the block decoder goes to 0V.    -   The latch enable signal LCHBD of the block decoder is pulsed        once row predecoded signals Xp/Xq/Xr/Xt are valid.    -   The BDLCH_out of the latch is set to Vdd when row predecoded        signals Xp/Xq/Xr/Xt are matched (i.e. selected).    -   The output signal BD_out of the block pre-decoder is V2.    -   The selected common signal S corresponding to the selected page        is set to 0V while unselected common signals S, SS and GS are        set to V1. The common source line CSL is floated.    -   The BD_out of unselected blocks are set to 0V. As a result, all        wordlines, SSL, GSL, CSL in unselected blocks are floated.    -   The BD_out of the selected block is set to V2 and all pass        transistors SST, TS0 to TS31, GST are turned on. Therefore the        selected wordline(s) is(are) biased to 0V while unselected        wordlines, SSL, GSL are precharged to V2−Vtn (Vtn: threshold        voltage of pass transistors).        Erase (t2 to t3):    -   During this period, the cell substrate (pocket p-well) rises to        erase voltage Vers.    -   The selected wordline for single page erase is or selected        wordlines for multiple page erase in the selected block are        biased to 0V.    -   The string select line SSL, ground select line GSL and        unselected wordlines in the selected block are initially        precharged to V2−Vtn, and then boosted to α % of Vers by        capacitive coupling between the substrate and wordlines &        SSL/GSL when the cell substrate goes to Vers (the boosted        voltage level on floated wordlines is determined by coupling        ratio (α) between the substrate and wordlines).    -   The CLS and all bitlines (BLs) go to Vers due to junction        forward bias from the substrate (PP-well) to the source (n+).    -   During this period, all cells on the selected page (pages)        is(are) erased. Erasure of memory cells in unselected wordlines        in the selected block is prevented by the boosted wordline        voltage.    -   All wordlines, SSL, GSL, CSL in unselected blocks are boosted to        α % of Vers by capacitive coupling between the substrate and        wordlines & SSL/GSL when the cell substrate goes to Vers.    -   When unselected wordlines (i.e. drain of pass transistors) are        boosted (i.e. source of pass transistor>V2−Vtn), pass        transistors (TS0˜TS26 & TS28˜TS31) are completely shut off due        to bias condition on pass transistors: drain=V1≧V2, gate=V2, and        source=α Vers (boosted voltage). Therefore the boosted high        voltage on unselected wordlines in unselected block is        maintained during erase and prevents cell erasure.        Erase Recovery (t3 to t4):    -   During this period, all high voltages on the cell substrate,        unselected selected wordline, SSL, GSL, and CSL are discharged        to the initial state (0V).

While this invention has been particularly shown and described withreferences to example embodiments thereof, it will be understood bythose skilled in the art that various changes in form and details may bemade therein without departing from the scope of the inventionencompassed by the appended claims.

1-10. (canceled)
 11. A method for performing a page erase operation in anonvolatile memory array having plural strings of memory cells on asubstrate, and plural wordlines across the strings to pages of memorycells; and associated with plural pass transistors, each of which isconfigured to apply a voltage to a respective one of the wordlines, thememory array being divided into plural blocks, the method comprising:selecting at least one of the blocks; selecting any one or ones of thewordlines of the selected block; enabling each of the pass transistorsassociated with the selected block; applying a select voltage to theselected one or ones of the wordlines of the selected block; applying anunselect voltage to unselected one or ones of the wordlines that areother than the selected one or ones of the wordlines of the selectedblock; and applying a substrate voltage to the substrate of the selectedblock, the voltage difference between the substrate voltage and theselect voltage causing the page or pages of memory cells coupled to theselected one or ones of the wordlines to be erased, and the voltagedifference between the substrate voltage and the unselect voltage notcausing the page or pages of memory cells coupled to the unselected oneor ones of the wordlines of the selected block to be erased.
 12. Themethod of claim 11 wherein: the applying a select voltage comprisesapplying the select voltage to one or ones of the pass transistorscoupled to the selected one or ones of the wordlines of the selectedblock; and the applying an unselect voltage comprises applying theunselect voltage to one or ones of the pass transistors coupled to theunselected one or ones of the wordlines of the selected block.
 13. Themethod of claim 11 wherein the selected wordlines are separated by atleast one of the unselected wordlines.
 14. The method of claim 11wherein the unselected wordlines are separated by at least one of theselected wordlines.
 15. The method of claim 11 wherein a resultingvoltage of the selected wordlines is substantially the same as theselect voltage and a resulting voltage of the unselected wordlines issubstantially the same as the unselect voltage.
 16. The method of claim11 wherein the select voltage is about zero volts and the unselectvoltage is about equal to the applied substrate voltage.
 17. The methodof claim 11 wherein a resulting voltage of the selected wordlines issubstantially the same as the select voltage and a resulting voltage ofthe unselected wordlines is a floating voltage coupled from the unselectvoltage toward the substrate voltage.
 18. The method of claim 11 whereinthe applying an unselect voltage comprises applying a boosted voltage.19. A nonvolatile memory comprising: a memory array comprising pluralstrings of memory cells on a substrate and plural wordlines across thestrings to pages of memory cells, the memory array being divided intoplural blocks; plural pass transistors, each of which is configured toapply a voltage to a respective one of the wordlines; a block selectorfor selecting at least one of the blocks to enable each of the passtransistors in the selected block during an erase operation; a substratevoltage source for applying a substrate voltage to the substrate duringthe erase operation; and a wordline decoder for selecting any one orones of the wordlines of the selected block to apply a select voltage tothe selected one or ones of the wordlines to erase one or ones of thepages of memory cells coupled to the selected one or ones of thewordlines of the selected block and an unselect voltage to unselectedone or ones of the wordlines that are other than the selected one orones of the wordlines of the selected block, the wordline decoder beingconfigured to respond to address instructions to apply the selectvoltage to the selected one or ones of the wordlines of the selectedblock and to apply the unselect voltage to the unselected one or ones ofthe wordlines of the selected block.
 20. The memory of claim 19 whereinthe wordline decoder is adapted to apply the select voltage to any ofthe wordlines and the unselect voltage to any of the wordlines.
 21. Thememory of claim 19 wherein a resulting voltage of the selected wordlinesis substantially the same as the select voltage and a resulting voltageof the unselected wordlines is substantially the same as the unselectvoltage.
 22. The memory of claim 19 wherein the select voltage is aboutzero volts and the unselect voltage is about equal to the appliedsubstrate voltage.
 23. The memory of claim 19 wherein a resultingvoltage of the selected wordlines is substantially the same as theselect voltage and a resulting voltage of the unselected wordlines is afloating voltage coupled from the unselect voltage toward the erasevoltage.
 24. The memory of claim 19 wherein a gate signal to each of thepass transistors has a value V₂, the unselect voltage is greater than V₂and the unselected one or ones of the wordlines precharge to V₂−V_(tn),and wherein V₂ is substantially less than the applied substrate voltage.25. The memory of claim 24 wherein V₂ is at least 50% of the erasevoltage.
 26. The memory of claim 19 wherein the pass transistors coupledto the wordlines of unselected one or ones of the blocks that are otherthan the selected at least one of the blocks are gated off after avoltage less than the unselect voltage is applied to each of the passtransistors and the wordlines float to prevent erasure.
 27. The memoryof claim 19 wherein the unselect voltage is closer to the erase voltageapplied to the substrate than to the select voltage.
 28. The memory ofclaim 19 wherein the wordline decoder is configured to apply a boostedvoltage as the unselect voltage.